"In their end-of-meeting statement, G7 leaders called for an end to fossil-fuel use by the global economy by 2100." –– The Globe and Mail, June 8, 2015.
G7 summit leadersʼ declaration
We, the leaders of the Group of Seven, guided by our shared values and principles, are determined to work closely together to meet the complex international economic and political challenges of our times. Speaking of "our times," time itself is a funny old thing. It is a truly limitless resource, unlike, say, truffles.
We are committed to the values of freedom and democracy, and their universality, to the rule of law and respect for human rights, and totally fostering peace and security, but not necessarily in that order. That's a pretty daunting list.
Back to the time thing for a minute.
We, the leaders of the G7, come together once a year, because we are extremely busy, what with each of us having to run our own respective countries, which can be quite demanding jobs. But our G7 work is super-important too, no question, and we will find the time. In this century that we are currently in, this is our sacred pledge to you.
Especially in view of the numerous crises in the world, we as G7 countries stand united in our commitment to uphold freedom, sovereignty and territorial integrity. Nothing can cause us to swerve from this course of action. Sorry, we may have just looked at our watches there for a second.
The G7 feels a special responsibility for shaping our planet's future. A future much of which is a very long time from now. But, of course, 2015 is a milestone year for international co-operation and sustainable development issues. The United Nations Climate Conference in Paris is crucial, the UN summit in New York will set the universal global sustainable development agenda for the years to come, and the Third International Conference on Financing for Development in Addis Ababa will almost certainly ratify the minutes from the Second International Conference on Financing for Development. Then there's the El Nino Super Meetings, the Hydrofluorocarbons and Hydrochlorofluorocarbons Happenings, the Anthropogenic Opening Gambit, and the Ocean Acidification Bee, which is being held in whatever city came in second in the bid for the FIFA World Cup.
All of this will have to be typed up and circulated afterward, of course.
"Think ahead. Act together. Get back to each other to confirm the date, just in case" – that is our guiding principle. We're thinking, at this point, the year 2045, 2046, around then. Then there's the ratifying to do. Always the ratifying.
(The United States, France and Italy had to leave early to get to the airport, so, just to clarify, this is Canada, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom talking now.)
Global Economy. Yes, absolutely, yes. A sound international financial system is key to putting growth on a sustainable path. We will continue to address the "too-big-to-fail" problem to protect taxpayers from bearing losses generated by the failure of global systemically important financial institutions. We're thinking "too-small-to-succeed" as an approach could work. Yesterday, right after lunch, someone suggested "could be the right size, so let's just let this play out for a while" as a potentially worthy alternative. So much to consider.
Responsible Global Trade Supply Chains. Maintaining a Rules-based Maritime Order. The Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention. Multisectoral Approaches to Nutrition. The Montreal Protocol. The Kobe 3R Action Plan. The Bourne Conspiracy. Something's got to give, right? (By the way, did you know that the G7 has an Acronym Secretariat?)
So, how's about we all agree that this is all a ton of work?
A mark of great civilizations has been their ability to see things over the long haul. "Rome wasn't built in a day," as they say. (Surprisingly, according to the Italian delegation, Italians don't actually say that. Huh.) Look: A baby born today will be 85 when we've all managed to finally end the use of fossil fuels. These babies have their whole lives ahead of them, lots of time to get big things done, like climate things, etc. etc. Us, we've got a lot on our plates right now.
We're the G7: Teaching Your Grandchildren to Shoulder Some Responsibility.
Gerry Flahive is a Toronto writer.